ENTRY DESCRIPTION
Unspoken is a photograph from a series I shot with the purpose of shining a light on the anxiety and depression teens face growing up in today's society. I was going through a tough time myself and began to realize the vast relatability of what I was feeling. I took it upon myself to use my next project as an opportunity to address this subject matter, being such a commonly downplayed issue. I wanted to shoot a dramatic series with the purpose of grabbing a viewers eye, bringing their attention to the ubiquity of mental illness. I chose to shoot this image in black and white to emphasize the severity and prominence of mental illness among today's youth. I took a conceptual approach when exploring this topic by first asking my models to think about a time in their lives when they struggled with anxiety or depression. I then photographed their raw emotion in a period of vulnerable thought. When I list the materials I've used in this shoot, I mention people, light, as well as nonmaterial things such as truth, candour and thought. In fact, that is what you are seeing when you look at this image. It displays much more than physical objects, much more than someones face. It exposes ones truth and ones struggle. It allows for a transparency between the subjects and the viewer that is immensely difficult to achieve directly. Therefore consequently, this is no longer just a photograph. It is now a connection, a relationship, and a subliminal understanding between the models, and you.

AUTHOR
Natalie Turcotte is a Canadian photographer based in Toronto, Ontario. She is currently studying contemporary art at Etobicoke School of the Arts (ESA) high school. Her work has been displayed in a number of both local and international exhibitions, including Albright Knox Art Gallery's future curators exhibit in Buffalo, New York, and Teen Art Gallery’s GenZ show in New York City. In March 2019 she gave an art talk at OCAD University explaining her art making process and inspiration behind her work. Natalie continues to build her portfolio in preparation for ESA's PD12 show in November 2020, where university representatives come from all over the world to speak with ESA's graduating artists.

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